Tuesday, August 19, 2014

first check ups

Ellie has already had two check ups since she has been born, one at 5 days old and the other at 2 weeks old. Both times went smoothly and its great to be reassured she's growing just fine (i.e getting enough food) and most importantly healthy.

At the first one, Maisie stayed home with Auntie Katie while Austin and I took Ellie in for her 5 day appointment. We didn't have any concerns per se, but she was a little (maybe a more than little) jaundiced. The babe looked like she had a fake orange tan going on and the whites of her eyes were very yellow, which was a little worrisome for me because Maisie didn't have any jaundice issues whatsoever, so I wasn't seasoned this time around, but everything turned out just fine and there was no need for testing up at the hospital (thank goodness!).

I was anxious about her weight because from what I could tell she was eating well (she's a very audible eater so it's easy to tell when she is swallowing haha) but its hard to be too sure except with a scale- the proof is in the numbers, but she was doing just fine.

Then at her 2 week appointment most of her umbilical cord had already fallen off, but there was still a spot that was still bleeding and to be honest Austin and I were afraid to touch it haha. So the pediatrician took an alcohol wipe and cleaned that sucker out. She still had a teeny tiny spot that still wanted to bleed a bit, but it was much prettier now and we got the "ok" for her to take real baths (yay!). Then Ellie needed to do her 2 week old heel prick test which was heartbreaking, but Ellie really didn't cry too much. It was just a couple of upset yells.

Let's get to the numbers shall we?

birth:
7 pounds 8 oz & 19 (?) inches
sidenote: the nurse who measured Ellie at birth messed up big time, she told us she was 21 inches long, but at this appointment we found out she really was 19.5 and NOT 21 inches so who knows what it was at birth.

5 days:
7 pounds 9 oz & 19.5 inches
They still are expecting babies to be under their birth weight at 5 days old, so it's a really good thing that she had already surpassed her birth weight.

2 weeks
7 pounds 14 oz & 20.5 inches
40th percentile all around. She's just a little petite thing, but she has the most kissable rolls I have ever seen.

She's thriving and healthy and that is a blessing I try not to take for granted.